Was Saward a good script editor?

[Deleted]

I think he was, although not as good as Cartmel. There were some great scripts in his time  a few  of which he wrote himself. I would watch The Visitation again, but I'm scared of rats lol Resurrection and Earthshock are masterpieces, though. I even quite enjoy Revelation these days. His target novels are sublime too. I know people here don't like Twin Dilemma, but the target adaption is one of the wittiest and enjoyable novels in the entire range. It's got this incredibly dark but funny addition where the twin's dad fantasizes about murdering them. As for the other scripts during Saward's tenure, Mawdryn Undead, Enlightenment, The Five Doctors, Warriors (sorry, I like it), Caves of Androzani and The Mark of the Rani are quality.

[RobFilth]

"Was Saward a good script editor"?

The way to judge is by examining others scripts rather than his own and I'd say generally he was for adhering to things like continuity, overall tone, etc.

Yes, I think he did enliven others scripts like Bidmeads "Frontios", "The Awakening", "Caves"(because he left Holmes well alone), and even things like "Warriors","Timelash" and "Varos" I think are improved from his approach, despite the shite direction or poor production values/bad acting etc letting these stories down badly.

Okay, perhaps things like the Terileptyls reference crowbarred into "The Awakening" grates a bit, much like RTD's fluffy pink pen he used to scrawl over every single writers script, but he is still far, far more subtle than Fatheads persistent meddling insertions ever were.

and although stories like "Planet of Fire" are a bit on the dull side plot-wise, as an A to B continuity tie-up it is a master-class in script editorial.

Do I think he was as good as Holmes or Dicks? Hell no, but I do think he was vastly better than Cartmel(sorry Maxil) and to some degree Bidmead also.

I also think he was better than Adams too, even if Adams frequently had better scripts to work with.